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Travis tookhis leave at the fifth-floor landing, where I assured him I would be all right. One more night and we’d be free of this nightmare. All of us except poor Mrs. Lakewood. I cringed, picturing her asking for help with the mud and being held beneath the surface by the robot’s unyielding arms.

“Lights,” I said to the pitch-black room. The nanosuns had faded into nothingness, and the crushing dark of the sea had taken over the surroundings.

I blinked against the sudden brightness and nearly screamed when I saw Mason lying on my couch. He threw an arm up to block the light and blinked. He must’ve been asleep.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, throwing his feet to the side so he’d sit up.

“I couldn’t find you,” he said. “And I didn’t trust the wristcom. Thank God you’re okay.” He pushed off the sofa and reached me in three long strides. But I backed up against the door.

His face and arms fell, but he stayed his ground. “We have to do something.”

“Do something?” I asked. “We’re evacuating in the morning. My brother said there was an announcement.”

“I was with Mother and Nicole when it happened. I wanted to watch her make the call myself because Nicole was practically purple.” Panic edged around the corners of his voice, and my own pulse sped up.

“Mason, get to the point.”

He drew a quick breath and blurted out, “Communication is down. We can’t get through to the surface, and there’s no way out for three weeks when the pod gets here.”

My knees gave out. Mason caught me in his arms. Anger exploded inside me. Anger at myself for being weak, anger at being stuck in this hellhole for weeks, and anger at Mason for feeling so damn good.

“Put me down,” I said. “I just need to…to sit.”

Mason set me on the couch where I folded my hands in my lap.

He sat next to me, perched on the edge. His knee bumped mine. When I thought about Travis’s sister, my chest felt like a crumpled tin can, and I found it hard to look at him. “How’s your mother going to tell everyone?” I asked.

He swung his head to the side, causing a loud popping sound. Then he placed a hand to his neck, where he rubbed it as he spoke. “She’s conferring with Candice and Graham right now. Nicole and I have been cut out of the discussion, which means she’s really flustered. Not good. My mother doesn’t fluster easily.”

I stood a bit too fast and hoped it wasn’t obvious when the floor tilted to the side.

“Where are you going?” Mason asked, invading my personal space with his warmth and delicious smell. I longed to throw myself in his arms and bury my face in his chest, which was so wrong that I bit the inside of my cheek.

“I’m going to go help Alyssa. We have to fix this. Now.”

“You need sleep. You’ve had more than one shock today, Sam.” He spoke low and reached for me.

I glanced at his fingers tightening around my arm. “This is getting way out of hand. We have to get out of here.” My head squeezed with pain, like someone stuck it in a vice. “Ow.”

“What happened?” Mason guided me back to the couch.

It hurt so bad, I couldn’t muster the strength to protest. “My head.”

A cool hand pressed to my forehead, and I sighed.

“Do you have migraines?” he asked.

“Only down here,” I replied. “Apparently, I’m one of the lucky few that are still sensitive to the pressure, despite the compression pumps.”

I accepted a hydropod and took a few sips.

“Don’t worry,” I said, seeing his face. “I’ll be fine. It just hit me all of a sudden. I never know when the symptoms will come on. But right now, I need to help Alyssa.” I pushed by him and smacked into the door. “Open.” Nothing. “Computer, open the damn door!”

The room’s com system made that slight buzzing sound it did before the computer was about to speak. “Please relax, Miss Meadows. I wouldn’t want you to strain yourself.”

“Open. The. Door.” My jaw clenched tighter with each word.